


Asleep in 3 Seconds

by MissyFlamingo



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Chronic Fatigue, Developing Friendships, Enemies to Friends, Gen, Insecurity, Insomnia, Swearing, azul being a sweetheart, leona being vulnerable, leona not being a dick for once, self-care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25166962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissyFlamingo/pseuds/MissyFlamingo
Summary: Leona has a reputation for being aloof, lazy, and bad-mouthed, but it's usually chalked up by everyone to be because of his privileged upbringing. However, when he's awoken from a particularly deep sleep in history class, he tries to starts to fight with his professor, which lands him in detention with risk of suspension. Azul feels like this unusual behaviour goes deeper than simply laziness and tries to find out what's actually happening to Leona.The answer? A secret that Leona's been keeping from everyone but Ruggie.
Relationships: Leona Kingscholar & Azul Ashengrotto
Comments: 22
Kudos: 135





	1. Chapter 1

“Perhaps Mr. Kingscholar would like to tell us the answer. Mr Kingscholar?” Professor Trein, as well as the rest of the class, received the response not of an answer to his question about the origin of the cast-iron cauldron, but rather the obnoxiously guttural snores that came from Leona, who was hunched in his seat, cheek on his desk and sound asleep. 

There was a scoff of disdain that came from the second level of the lecture seats, likely from Vil or Jamil. This wasn’t the first time that Leona had fallen asleep in class, but it was the first time he was genuinely disruptive. In normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be snoring louder than a whisper and he would simply tilt his neck down as if he was peering at the bandana that hung from his pocket. However, his sounds were the volume of a conversational voice and he quite possibly could’ve been drooling slightly on his desk. 

“Someone wake him up!” The comment came from Vil for certain that time. His biting but eloquent tone of voice was unmistakable with anyone else in the student body. “I can’t focus with a beast making the classroom into his hibernation den.” To add flair to his complaint, he placed his fingers on his hairline like a gracefully flamboyant facepalm.

Professor Trein took a commanding step towards the slumbering man, meter stick in hand. “Mr. Kingscholar.” Again, no response other than the steady breaths, like a metronome. Trein spoke again, louder, “Mr. Kingscholar!” He made sure to put effort into pushing the K out between his teeth, yet Leona didn’t seem fazed. 

Exasperated, Trein shifted the meter stick to his right hand and, with the power of a refined man like himself, brought the stick down on the desk with a loud thwack, right next to Leona’s sensitive ears. The sudden motion and burst of noise was enough to startle some of the other classmates, particularly Kalim, who jumped in his seat. It was also certainly enough to startle Leona awake, who shot up in his seat like a bowstring that was released by its archer. His hair was a mess and his eyes looked lost as he tried to figure out whether or not he’d been attacked. After a moment of collecting his thoughts and realizing he’d fallen asleep, he looked up at the man who stood rigidly in front of him with a meter stick in both hands and glowered in irritation, tired green eyes burning.

“Mr. Kingscholar, if you’re not going to value your education, could you do it in a way that doesn’t wreck the opportunity for those who do seek a higher position?” Professor Trein stood before his pupil for a moment, seeing if he would respond to his question. When no answer came, he turned his back and walked back to the chalkboard.

“Prince.” 

The classroom turned to look at Leona, who spoke his one word response in a gravelly voice. Professor Trein looked over his shoulder back at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“It’s Prince, not Mister. If you’re going to interrupt my sleep you could at least say my name right.” He laid back in his seat and folded his arms. 

Trein was quiet for only a moment, seemingly in surprise that one of his pupils dared to speak back to him after falling asleep in class.

“Mr. Kingscholar, if you wish for me to refer to you with your royal title, then you should make an effort to live up to it. Until you show me the respect of the Kingscholar family, I will refer to you how I please in my classroom.”

Leona looked away and mumbled under his breath, just loud enough that Trein could hear it “Oh, I’ll show you respect.”

Trein narrowed his eyes at Leona. “Excuse me, did you just threaten a professor?”

“Not unless you want me to.”

“Mr. Kingscholar-”

Leona snapped his head so that his eyes bore into his professor’s. “Call me Mister one more time, I swear to God -”

“That’s enough!” Professor Trein’s voice boomed at a volume that is heard by the seldom few who anger him past the point of composure. Everyone in the lecture hall had taken an uncomfortable body language, with many not even daring to look at their teacher. Even Leona seemed fazed; his lion ears twitched, threatening to lower and flatten against his head, but he kept them up, driven solely by spite. “Leona Kingscholar, leave my classroom this instant and march yourself straight to Headmaster Crowley’s office at once!”

For a moment, no one moved. Some dared not to breathe. But finally, Leona rose from his desk without a word and, knowing this is a fight that he couldn’t win in the end, strode out of the lecture hall. 

The first voice in the classroom after the ordeal had subsided came from Jamil. “Shouldn’t someone go with him? I don’t think he’s going to go to the Headmaster’s office, he’s just going to go back to his dorm.”

Trein sighed. “I’ll alert the worker fairies to keep an eye on him and make sure he gets to Crowley’s office. Stay in your seats, everyone.” With that, Trein walked out of the classroom, his expensive dress shoes clicking on the marble floors towards and out the door.

As soon as he left, the classroom erupted into conversation about what had happened. It was a rolling pot of concerned muttering and hearty laughs as people made theories and jokes as to why Leona was so angry today. Even Jamil cracked a smile when he overheard Kalim say something about Ruggie getting him a burger with seven ounces of meat on it and not eight. The only one in the classroom who stayed silent, not even looking at the other students, was Azul. His face remained blank, save for a slight knit in his brow, and he didn’t take his eyes off of the door.


	2. Chapter 2

It took less than a day for the news of Leona’s lashing out in history class to spread throughout the school. He usually paid no mind when it came to what other students in the hallway were doing as he passed, but as he strode to the cafeteria the next day to meet with Ruggie and Jack, he felt an eerie sensation that every eye in the corridor was glued to his back. It felt like spiders scuttling up his spine. Nonetheless, he tried to keep his same unbothered composure as usual. That is, until he spotted two students from the Pomefiore dorm glancing at him over their shoulder as if they were trying - and failing - to make it look like they weren’t talking about him. 

The boys, dressed in their usual black blazers and crushed velvet vests, were whispering utterances that Leona couldn’t make out until he crossed their threshold. He could make out one exchange in particular. One of the two boys, a short boy with pale green hair, said to the other, “Leona looks even more tired today. Check out those bags, they’re dreadful.” The other, with coiled red locks, responded, “I think you mean Mister Kingscholar.” They snickered at their joke. By the time Leona heard their remarks, he was almost past them on his way to the eatery… almost. He stopped in his tracks and remained in place with an unsettling stillness, the kind of stillness that can only be achieved by an inhuman creature. Luckily for him, he was one.

The Pomefiore boys quickly stopped their giggles when they noticed he wasn’t walking. In fact, he wasn’t even looking at them. They shifted awkwardly in place, fearing that he heard them. The students at Pomefiore may believe they were above those in Savanaclaw, but those rules didn’t apply when insulting Leona. He may be more rough and uncouth than them, but that in turn meant he was much more brutal when cross. 

He finally moved, steadily moving his head over his shoulder with his eyes closed. The boys’ heart rates quickened in their chests. However, they still weren’t prepared to see the stare of absolute hatred that they were greeted with when Leona’s eyessnapped open. The colour of his irises were very similar to that of an emerald jewel, and the boys could feel as if they were made of actual emeralds, ones who were hastily broken and littered with jagged edges that aimed to pierce their souls themselves.

“What year are you in?” He spat through his mouth while trying his best not to bare his fangs too much.

The green haired one spoke first with a shaky tone. “We’re first years, sir!”

Leona’s eyes looked down as he considered his options. Even if he believed them to be total assholes, they were first years. He cocked his head slightly to the side, then looked back up. “You’re first years, so I’ll go easy on you. But say one more thing about my face or my title and I snap your necks. Understand?”

They nodded feverishly. 

“Now go.”

The two first years scrambled to get far away from their antagonizer and opted to each lunch somewhere other than the cafeteria that day. Just as he watched their small bodies shrink in the distance as they fled down the corridor, he heard a voice behind him. 

“What is taking you so long? Jack and I have been waiting at the table for 10 minutes!” Ruggie stood there with his arms crossed, which made his oversized uniform jacket bunch and crease around his elbows.

Leona smacked his lips in response. “I had to take a piss.”

“Then get your food and piss later. Jeez, Leona.” 

The two walked the rest of the way together, with Ruggie stealing concerned glances at Leona the whole time.

* * *

While Jack was preoccupied about telling Ruggie about the newest addition to his cactus collection, a baby rebutia, and Ruggie was trying his best to look like he cared about hearing about baby rebutias, Leona was staring down at his food, a steaming hot beef bun, and picking off pieces of it to eat individually. Eventually, the other two noticed. 

“Leona, sir, is everything okay?” Jack inquired calmly. “I thought you liked meat foods.”

“I do, I’m just… not feeling it today.”

“Not feeling it?” cracked Ruggie. “What kind of lion doesn't ‘feel like meat today’? You’ve been acting weird all morning.”

Leona looked up at the crackling flames of the candles hanging suspended in the chandeliers that lit up the stone wall-encased eatery. As he spoke his next sentence, his eyes remained on the candles. “It happened again. It’s getting worse.”

Jack’s tall ears twitched slightly in confusion, while Ruggie’s drooped in unfortunate understanding. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. And instead of going back to my room after class I have detention with Professor Crewel. Apparently he’s gonna make me write out 50 different potion formulas and I can’t leave until I’m done with all of them.”

Jack’s mouth screwed up in sympathy. “That sounds like a nightmare.”

“According to my little chat with Crowley yesterday, he’s ‘going easy on me.’ I should ‘count my blessings that I’m not being suspended’ or some bullshit like that. And on top of everything, I had to deal with these two Pomefiore herbivores who think they’re tough and tried to make fun of me.” Leona picked up his bun and took an overly aggressive bite out of it, the juices dribbling down to his chin before he quickly wiped them away with the back of his leather-gloved hand. 

Jack spoke softer. “So, what got worse?”

Ruggie turned his attention to him. “Don’t worry about it, Jack. It’s a personal thing.”

“Is something happening back home?”

Leona was next to speak. “He said it’s personal, Jack. Drop it.”

Jack leaned back in his seat and took up a pear on his tray. “Sorry, sir.”

The table was silent for a few moments as they continued eating. Leona hastily finished his lunch, wiped his face with a napkin, and stood up. “I’m going to the garden. Don’t bother me until class is over.” 

Both Ruggie and Jack responded in the same way, a casual “okay.” 

As Leona trudged to the exit, his sandals making a 'thud' against the stone floors with each step, he got the same spidery feeling that someone was watching him, but as he looked around behind him, everyone in the cafeteria was distracted from him with their own agendas and no one seemed to be looking. He chalked it up to simple paranoia and continued out the door. However, what Leona hadn’t seen was someone get up from their table not long after and follow his same tracks, all the way from the school’s interior to the botanical garden. The person following behind him kept his distance as to not make him aware that his was, in fact, stalking him to his location. The only time he made himself known to Leona was when the two were completely alone: in the botanical garden. As Leona scoped the pathways and plants for a good place to rest, he heard a voice that shocked and startled him out of his thoughts. It was less the presence of another person that was surprising and rather who the person was. Moreover, it was what the person said.

“What got worse, Leona?” Azul asked.


	3. Chapter 3

Leona made no hesitation in getting up from his crouch and standing straight to face Azul. In his gaze was a look of inspection and intimidation. Azul, meanwhile, was his usual self with his usual smile that always seemed to convey at least two intentions in one expression. It was up to the other person to decipher if those intentions were compassionate or devious. Azul’s chin was tilted up ever so slightly so he could look at Leona, who was a bit taller than him, in the eye. It was clear from his gaze that he wasn’t going to leave until his question was answered. And so, after a few moments of silence, save for the light rustling of plant life, he posed the same question again.

“What got worse, Leona?”

Leona scoffed beneath his breath and averted his gaze listlessly around. “Why are you here?” 

“Come on, Leona, even if you certainly don’t act like it, I know you’re mostly intelligent. You told Ruggie that something got worse. So what did?”

Leona thought back to his conversation in the cafeteria. He didn’t even notice if Azul and his little minions were nearby or not. Nonetheless, he felt offended at his invasion of privacy. “You were eavesdropping on me?”

Azul has to fight to roll his eyes at Leona’s remark. His normal level of sass may put his classmate off, and that would immediately shut his secret away again. “It’s not eavesdropping if we’re in the same room. I just have a keen sense of hearing to matters that tickle my fancy.”

“I think they call that eavesdropping.”

Azul’s voice got an edge of sterness. “You’re avoiding the question. It’s only prolonging the inevitable.”

Leona scoffed at full volume that time. “Inevitable?”

Azul nodded immediately, as if him finding the answer to Leona’s problem was a simple fact of life, as if Leona was asking, “Grass is green in the summertime?”

“Okay, before I do or don’t feed into whatever underhanded plot you got going on in your head right now, you gotta answer me something.” Leona crossed his arms and stuck his tongue in his cheek.

“I suppose that’s only fair,” Azul reflected his body language by folding his own arms, “what do you want to know?”

“Do you really give a shit about what’s wrong?”

“You think I would-”

“Answer the goddamn question.”

Azul answered quickly, an indication of his irritation with this back and forth. “Yes, I do.”

Leona looked him up and down. Reading from his body language, Azul seemed to be answering in earnest. However, as far as Leona was concerned, nothing Azul did was in earnest. He spat out a one word response, “Bullshit.”

Azul had gone from irritated to frustrated. “Why would you ask me a question if you would simply disregard the answer?!”

Leona began to walk away, both from the conversation and Azul himself. “Because I thought maybe today would be the day that you would be honest for once, but I should’ve expected less from you.”

“I am being honest! Leona, don’t walk away from me, I do want to know what’s the matter with you! Leona!”

Leona still didn’t turn around and strolled down the cobblestone pathway. “If you’re just gonna start yelling, you can do it where you won’t interrupt my sleep.”

Azul moved his feet for the first time since they first looked at each other as he followed him. “That’s just the problem! I know what happened in class yesterday - ”

“Yeah, you and half the school.” Leona stopped and crouched down to inspect a comfy looking spot beneath some palm leaves.

“ - I saw what happened in class yesterday. That wasn’t normal, even for you. You have an actual problem, Leona.” Azul got close enough to bend down at the waist and put his hand on his shoulder. “Is it your sleeping? Is that what got worse?”

Leona turned quick enough to snatch Azul’s wrist in a vice-like grip and spoke in a snarl, “Get your damn hands off me.”

Azul’s eye sparkled for a quick second. From all these years of knowing Leona, he learned to read him pretty well. If his behaviour switches from aloof to aggressive, a cord was touched that he didn’t want anyone touching. For Azul, that’s the cord he was looking for. “That’s it, isn’t it? It’s your sleep.”

When Leona spoke, his voice was shaky. It wasn’t the type of vocal shake when someone is nervous or frightened, it was as if his rage was building to an overflow, and he was trying his best to keep the dam from cracking and letting it spill. “Go away, Azul.”

Azul didn’t try to tug his wrist away. He knew he had the upper hand. “You can tell me. You know how well I can keep a secret.”

“That’s it!” Leona stood up and grabbed a firm hand on the wand in his back pocket. By the time he pointed it square at Azul’s face, Azul had done the same with his, both boys’ hands as quick as the other’s. Leona let go of Azul's wrist and took a step back from him. “Azul, don’t make this messy. Take your secret plan and get the hell away from here. You think I’m an idiot, thinking I would tell you anything when you decide to act all buddy-buddy when I know for a fact you hate me. You’re an absolute prick, you know that?”

“Maybe so…” His grip readjusted on his wand to make it more sturdy. “But I’m not leaving.”

“Why?!”

“Because I’m actually concerned, Kingscholar. I know you don’t believe me, and trust me I don’t blame you, but just this once, you have to believe me when I say that you have an actual problem that I want to know about. And no, it’s not so I can blackmail you.”

There was a moment of quiet between the two, but it was a tense quiet. With each second that no one spoke, the tension rose. Both kept furrowed brows and pointed wands. 

“Leona, why don’t you want to tell me you can’t sleep?”

Leona had finally snapped. He hollered an animalistic roar and thrust his wand forward, a bright orange light shining outwards and a stream of light was sent hurtling from the gemstone and towards Azul. Azul responded with a whisk of his own wand, his pale silver light creating a barrier to deflect Leona’s attack. In the same motion he sent another stream that moved too briskly for Leona to defend against. It coiled around Leona’s throat and tightened, causing Leona to stagger backwards. 

“The longer you take to tell me, the tighter it gets, Leona! Tell me what I want to know!”

Leona went to raise his wand again, but Azul cast another spell that knocked it out of his hands and into the shrubbery nearby. 

“Tell me, Leona!”

Leona tried to pull against the coiling tightness around his throat to no avail. He was forced to take to one knee, the lack of oxygen weakening his defense. 

“By the will of the Sea Witch, Leona, why were you snoring so loudly? Why did you snap at Professor Trein? Why are you being so secretive?!”

“Because I’m sick, Azul!” His answer came out strangled and gasping. “Is that what you want to hear, you sadistic son of a bitch?! Because I’m sick!”

Azul immediately deactivated the spell and Leona fell to his hands and knees, gasping for air. Azul put his wand back in his inner coat pocket and slowly kneeled in front of Leona, making sure to keep his distance. “... You’re sick?” He spoke with a soft voice and a concerned inflection

.“I’m sick, I’ve been since I got here.” It sounded as if Leona was trying to slap Azul across the face with his words from the way that were harshly spat out. He sat back, his eyes wouldn’t leave the cobblestone.

“With what?”

He paused and his answer was weaker. “Chronic fatigue.”

“You mean the sleep disease?”

Leona nodded solemnly. His voice was still hoarse and broken, but he explained. “I’m always tired no matter how much I sleep. Have you ever stopped to think why I can fall asleep so fast?”

Azul sat on the ground with him, still keeping his distance. “I always just assumed it was a strange talent.”

“It’s because I always have the need to sleep, even if I already did. I can’t focus in class, I get these damn headaches every other day, and god, it’s so easy to piss me off. It’s a miracle I even have the energy to exercise as much as I do.” Leona put a hand on his forehead and rubbed it.

“So… how did it get worse?”

“It’s not just fatigue anymore. I can’t…” He hesitated again, and Azul had a small inkling of fear that he would shut himself off again. But he sighed and kept talking. “... I can’t sleep at all. It’s insomnia now.”

Azul nodded his head slowly as he took in the information. “When was the last time you slept?”

“Until that time in class yesterday, 3 days.”

Azul’s eyes widened and he leaned forward. “You didn’t sleep for 3 days?”

“3 days and 2 nights. I only slept for an hour last night.”

Azul crossed his legs and his shoulders fell slightly. For the entire time he knew Leona, he assumed he was simply lazy and made no effort since he was royal. He felt a dull prick of regret in his chest. “You said you’ve had the disease since you got here. Do you mean Night Raven?”

“Yep. It wasn’t that bad during my first year, I was just sort of sleepy every now and again, but it’s been getting worse. Now every morning I feel like I’m dead.”

“Is Ruggie the only one who knows about this?”

Leona nodded.

“Why?”

His eyes searched the ground as the gears in his head churned. He already told Azul way too much at that point, did he really want to go further? He was about to conclude ‘no’, until he looked up for the first time and saw Azul. At any second, Azul is impossible to genuinely read. This wasn’t like any other second, though. From seeing the way his brow drooped and his hands were folded with each other in his lap and those silvery-blue eyes refused to take themselves off Leona’s face as if his life depended on it, Azul wasn’t planning anything he could see as malicious. Leona sighed.

“Because it makes me weak. If I told people about my sickness they would take advantage of me. And Kingscholars show no weaknesses.” When he told Azul the last sentence, his voice was soaked through with contempt, but at what, Azul wasn’t sure. What he was sure about was the way it made his heart sink. After all, he was always telling himself the exact same thing.

The only thing Azul could muster up as a response was “I, uh, I apologize.”

Leona kissed his teeth. “Whatever. You said you wouldn’t tell anyone. You won’t, yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah, totally. I won’t tell anyone. Just… that answers a lot of questions.”

“Tell me about it.” Leona looked around and stood up again, then started to walk away without a word. He had an unmistakable feeling that what he had just done would come back to bite him in the ass, but he couldn’t deny that it felt sort of good to tell someone other than Ruggie. Of all the people he could, he had to admit that Azul was his best bet.

That time, Azul didn’t follow him. He was too busy thinking.


	4. Chapter 4

For the two days that followed, both Leona and Azul had done plenty of thinking about their eventful conversation in the botanical garden. Neither had spoken to the other, even when they attended class together, where they sat apart and made no attempt at eye contact. When Leona arrived at their history lecture with a large cup of steaming hot coffee, no one had asked him why he started drinking coffee - or for that matter, when - but Azul made a note of it.

Though their exterior looked to be identical, the interior of their thoughts were completely different. The afternoon of that fateful day, while he was in detention with Professor Crewel, Leona had clawed his insides raw with shame for letting his secret be known by such a conniving and high-profile student with a network of connections that no one in the school could hope to wrap their head around. He had been in denial within the moment, saying Azul was the best option because he knew how to keep a secret, but he had come to understand that Azul may have been the worst option, because he knew how to use every juicy piece of information to his absolute advantage, no matter whose reputation it would tarnish in the process. At least if he told someone like Cater, a boy who couldn’t keep his mouth shut if he wanted to, people wouldn’t take him as seriously. So, in order to not make the same mistake twice, he had treated Azul as if he was a total stranger with no interest in him. 

Why Azul was being apprehensive was a mystery to him.

The deep resonation of the hour bells rang throughout the hallowed halls exactly on time, telling the professors and their students that the school day had come to an end, and the students were allowed to go about the rest of their day doing what they so pleased. Given that it was the last day of the school week, they could worry about schoolwork the next day. For Leona, the day of the week had never really mattered, all he cared about was getting back to his dorm and trying to get some rest from a gruelling day of trying and immediately failing to pay attention to his mind-numbingly boring classes.

The activity in Savanaclaw was the same as always. Lowerclassmen were on the field practicing Magift or simply exercising, some were in the lounge having a soak in the waterfall, and the studious few were in their private rooms catching up on homework so they didn’t have to worry about it for the weekend. Leona walked past many of his dorm subordinates with no fuss, many had said greetings akin to “hello, sir” as they passed, and he gave them a look of acknowledgement. It was only when he was about to enter his room that he got a tap on his shoulder. 

“What is it, Ruggie?” he said. 

When he turned around, he found himself to be mistaken. It wasn’t his vice leader getting his attention, but rather another lowerclassman, a mongoose boy with a dark brown undercut. In his hands was a small brown package tied with string and a tag attached to the knot on top. On the wrapping paper was an official-looking stamp, which read “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY”. 

“Leader Kingscholar, sir, a package arrived for you moments ago. I was given this by an Octavinelle student and instructed that it be given to you.” He extended his arms to give it to Leona, who paused for a moment, staring intently at the package.

He hardened his expression and took it. As soon as the mongoose’s hands were free, he bowed his head and walked away, leaving Leona outside his room with a mysterious package in tow. He went into the privacy of his dorm, making sure the door was shut and locked, and drew his curtains back slightly. 

He sat on his bed for a few silent moments, only gazing at the package. He periodically brushed his locks back as they fell in front of his downturned face. He observed the dimensions of the package - it was about the size of a hardcover novel, and the tag attached had the Octavinelle crest on it. It wasn’t addressed to anyone, though he was sure that was intentional. It was Azul’s work, he was sure of it. The presence of the package had so many possible implications he could think of, but none of them were good. At last, he concluded it would be best to just tear it open, like ripping off a bandage or relocating a shoulder. He did just that, taking a switchblade out of his bedside table drawer and severing the string, then slicing along the brown paper and uncovering the contents. 

Inside was a simple black box, nothing about it was very enticing, other than the quality of the material itself. What he saw after removing the lid was interesting, though. On the very top was a letter written in a fanciful cursive on a pristine, granite grey piece of cardstock. He was about to read it until he spotted what was under it. Laying snugly in, to be frank, expensive-looking, satin, was a small bottle. In it was an iridescent deep blue fluid that seemed to ebb and flow inside the glass container, despite the box being completely stationary. Leona knew the look anywhere - it was a magical potion. He picked it up with his free hand and inspected it. It caught the light beautifully as it danced around, but Leona didn’t recognize what exactly it was made of or what it was supposed to do. 

He looked back to the letter. It said:

“Dear Leona,

This potion is designed to help with your insomnia. Drink it in its entirety. If you want more information, meet me in the Astro Lounge at midnight tonight. Jade and Floyd won’t be there, only myself. I implore you to visit. 

Trust me, it’s for your benefit. You have my word.

Sincerely,  
Azul Ashengrotto”

Leona leaned back against his headboard and swirled around the small bottle. Every single part of his mind was telling him to not drink the contents of the bottle - just because Azul said it was to help with his insomnia doesn’t mean it’s not some kind of underhanded trick - and he was about to put it back in the box without so much as popping the cork on top, but his hand stopped midair. He was reminded of the moment when he told Azul about his insomnia. The facial expression, the body language, the way Azul’s eyes had pleaded with Leona to tell him about his affliction, that same feeling of genuineness had stopped Leona as he was about to disregard the potion. 

He looked at the letter again. “Drink it in its entirety”. 

In a moment’s lapse of judgement, he took off the cork with a satisfying pop and swallowed the potion in a single gulp. It fizzled as it swam down his throat, like taking the first drink of a sparkling water. He shook his head to get the unappealing taste out of his mouth, then recorked the bottle and put it back in the box, then the lid on the box, then the box under his bed, just to make sure Ruggie didn’t find it when he would inevitably go in his room to wake him up the next day - that is, if the potion actually worked and he fell asleep properly that night. He still hadn’t told Ruggie about the garden and as far as Ruggie knew, they were still the only two students who knew about his illness. Leona really didn’t want ot have that conversation with him yet.

Leona laid back in his bed, hoping that he hadn't dug his own grave even further by ingesting whatever Azul put in that drink. He realized by drinking it, he surely had questions that needed to be answered. And for that, he had no choice but to join Azul in the Astro Lounge at midnight as he suggested. Leona didn’t try to sleep that afternoon, he needed to make sure he would be there on time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... hey.
> 
> Been a while.
> 
> I know, I know! I haven't updated this story in like, 3 months, and I'm sorry to anyone who's been really looking forward to the next part. To be honest, after getting caught up in other writing projects and the start of university, I was fully planning on dropping it, just leaving it as an uncompleted story people would forget about after a while, but apparently not! Now that I've added this chapter, I'm definitely gonna be seeing it through until the end. 
> 
> A big thanks to Daphne382006 for giving me the push to finish this!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter everyone, more to come :)

The sun had fallen over Nightraven College, the moon was making her way upwards, and Leona stood outside the double doors of the Astro Lounge. They towered over him, as they did with every student at the academy. They were a smooth, pristinely polished set of pale grey doors with solid brass handles that he couldn’t help but notice were carved to look like octopus tentacles. He rolled his eyes at the tackiness of it. The Astro Lounge really laid their ocean theme on thick, too thick for his liking.  
Taking in one last breath and bracing for the worst, he knocked on the double doors. From inside, he heard the clacking of what could only be dress shoes on solid flooring. In no time at all, they opened slowly, hardly even creaking. On the other side stood Azul, who promptly stuck his head out of the doors, looked left, looked right, then turned, beckoning Leona inside with a wave of the hand over his right shoulder.

Azul had moved so quickly that Leona didn’t have much time to intellectualize what he was seeing, but now, watching Azul from behind as he took long strides past the bar, he took in his appearance. Azul was in his dorm uniform, or part of it at least. His hat was perched askew on his head, he wore his white dress shirt and sleek black pants, purple socks, the shoes Leona heard approach before, and gloves. However, that was it. His bowtie and cumberbund were missing, alongside his emblemed scarf, walking cane, and hard-to-miss overcoat.

It was strange to see, to say the least.

Leona shut the doors discreetly and followed behind Azul, looking around for any potential lurkers in the lounge. Azul wrote to him that they would be alone, but he could never be too sure. Surely enough, he looked to be telling the truth; he spotted no peering eyes, heard no scuffling feet, and smelt no bodies in the air.

Azul led him to a pair of comfortable-looking, deep violet lounge chairs with a black coffee table situated between them. On top of the tables was a box that looked exactly the same as the one that arrived in Leona’s package, save for the tag hanging out of it and resting on the table, which had “DO NOT OPEN” written in clear letters on it. Azul stood by one of the chairs and gestured to it, indicating Leona to sit. Moving deliberately and keeping his eyes on Azul, he did.

Azul scoffed. “Do you always have to be so wary of me, Leona? I’ve already given you my word, I see no need to watch my every twitch.”

“Can’t help but be too cautious. Calling me here in the middle of the night alone isn’t the most comforting situation.”

“I’ll give you that.”

Leona looked him up and down. “What’s with the clothes?”

“You’re going to talk to me about clothes, Mr. Slacks-with-sandals?”

“That’s not what I mean, smartass. You’re usually a lot more… elaborate. The coat and the bowtie and whatever.”

Azul sat down across from him. It was the most well-mannered sitting Leona had ever seen, and his brother was Farena.

“It’s midnight. I wanted to still look presentable for my guest, of course, but it would be a hassle to take it all off again after. Plus, it’s not like I’m meeting Vil, I doubt you’d find a problem with me not wearing my scarf.”

“So why the hat still?”

“I just think it’s nice.” He put a hand on the spiral shell broach on the band of the hat and smiled.

Leona nodded and yawned, revealing the sizable teeth resting in his mouth.

“Looks like you drank the potion I sent you.”

“Yeah.” Leona leaned his head to one side and stretched out his neck. “You really couldn’t have scheduled this after I slept?”

“It’s the only time I’m alone. Would you rather us have this meeting with Jade and Floyd?”

Leona rubbed his heavy eyes, wanting to try and go back to sleep, but he fought off the urge for the time being. Instead, he turned his attention to the box on the table. Azul noticed where his eyes landed and leaned forward to rest a hand on top of it. “May as well cut to the chase, I guess.” He picked it up and slid open the lid, revealing another bottle seated in the same coloured satin. The bottle inside was considerably larger than the last one, and the iridescent liquid that danced inside the glass was a deep magenta. Azul tilted the box enough for Leona to get a good look at the contents.

“Another potion?” He leaned in to get a good look at it.

“Your last one was a cure for insomnia. To be frank, I don’t know how long it’ll last, but it would tide you over for enough nights, I hope. But this…” he took the bottle out of the box and gave it a gentle mix, watching the way the light bounced off of it, “... is for your fatigue.”

Leona sat up a little taller. “Are you being serious?”

“100%.”

“That’ll fix my fatigue?”

“Knowing my skill in brewing, yes.”

Leona didn’t respond for a few moments, there was still an inkling in him that felt like something was wrong here. Azul hardly brewed potions for others, let alone anyone from Savanaclaw, not to mention the head of Savanaclaw, without them suffering in one way or another.

“How?”

“How else? You drink it, and when you wake up the next day, your body will feel rested.” He looked Leona directly in the eye. “I’m sure your body hasn’t felt that in a while.”  
Their eyes stared into one another’s, cool grey into vibrant green, then Leona averted his gaze to the potion again. The greens followed the box as Azul placed it back on the table and pushed it towards Leona.

“Have a look for yourself.”

Leona did as Azul said, picking up the bottle and inspecting the fluid. He was never all that good at potion making, he was much more inclined to spell casting and hands on action, but even he could tell this was real. He could practically feel the magic power seeping through the glass. His mind ran a mile a minute trying to keep track of the facts and keep his emotions at bay. If he was being honest with himself, the thought of him finally getting relief from his affliction made him feel like a kid on Christmas. The joy and happiness inside him threatened to burst out at the thought, but he stayed calm. Eventually, he sighed, placed the bottle back in the box, and pushed it back to Azul, who looked at him with a furrowed brow and a quirk of the head.

“What’s the catch?”

“Catch?”

“I know exactly how this works. It’s just like a drug deal. You give me the insomnia potion for free, no strings attached, just to prove that you’re being honest with me and your product works. But the insomnia isn’t my real problem, is it? It's the chronic fatigue. So I come to you, alone, and suddenly the strings come out. So what is it, Azul? Money, a favour, my magic?”

Azul sighed and smiled. “You never fail to remind me of your intellect, Leona. I do forget about it, if I’m being honest.” He puts the lid back on the box. “Yes, I need something from you. And it might not be easy.”

Leona crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah? What is it?”

“I need you to get your act together.”

Leona blinked a few times. He makes a circling motion with his hands telling Azul to elaborate.

“I get it, Leona. Your disease is a restriction for you, a disability if I were to go so far, and I get that. But chances are, you’ve gotten comfy with coasting. If no one’s challenged you yet, they’re not going to do it now. I’ll be that person. Here’s the thing about this potion. I brewed it specifically to be temporary. You may get three nights of relief, maybe four. But by day five you’ll be right back where you started. If you want more, you have to come to me. And be sure of this, Leona: no one knows this recipe. Not Jade, not Floyd, not Vil, not even any of the books in the library. Just me.”

Leona sat up a bit straighter. “So if I want more, I have to ‘get my act together’.”

“Exactly. You have to pay attention in class, contribute to group projects, act fairly towards people, do and take your share, obey your professors when they demand it, and most importantly - for lack of a better word - stop being such an asshole to literally everyone. You say so yourself, Kingscholar: you’re a prince. For goodness’ sake, act like it.”

Leona couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “So when would I start that?”

“The next time you’re conscious. I would say “tomorrow”, but I have a feeling you’re going to spend all of tomorrow in bed.”

Leona was quiet for a long time as the gears groaned and spun in his head the best they could despite his ever-growing tiredness. There was a part of the equation that he couldn’t figure out: how it benefited Azul. Whenever Azul made an agreement, he had to earn equal to - if not more than - the other party. But none of the agreement played in his favour.

“What are you getting out of this?”

“I have my reasons.” Azul spotted the quirk of Leona’s brow and continued. They’re not important to the agreement, I swear no harm will befall you. At least, none that you wouldn’t cause yourself. I imagine you’re in for a learning curve.” He cracked a playful smirk.

He unfurled a piece of papyrus and a feather pen - meanwhile Leona wondered where he got them from - and passed them across the table.

“Do we have a deal, Kingscholar?”

“I hope you know who you’re dealing with, Ashengrotto. I’m not one of those first years you like to fuck with.”

“I’m well aware.”

Leona looked down at the paper.

“There’s nothing to be prideful about, Leona. It’s just medicine.”

He read through the contract.

“It better be.”

He picked up the pen. Before it could drip a drop of ink on the papyrus, he snuck one last gaze at Azul. Again was that look he saw in the garden, earnest anticipation. Leona had witnessed Azul offer a contract a few times during his residence at Nightraven, and every time he had the same smug look on his face, the kind of face a chess player has when he’s realized he’s won, the half-a-second before declaring “checkmate”. He fully expected those piercing, steel eyes to be looking at him the same way when he snuck a glance, but it wasn’t there. In fact, from the casual clothes to the look on his face to the lack of eel goons by his side, Azul looked like a completely different person. Ironically, despite neither of them being human, it was the most Azul had seemed like one.

He signed the papyrus.

Azul sighed happily and shooed the box over to the other side of the table.

“Sleep well, Leona.”

Leona picked up the box and nodded curtly. Without another word, he stood up and made his way to the exit. Azul didn’t watch him go; he stood, yawned, and went to get ready for bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Azul was beginning to think the potion backfired. 

For the next three days, he couldn’t spot Leona in the hallways, the cafeteria, in the alchemy lab or the lecture hall, or, most surprisingly, gym class. He could understand not spotting him in any of their other shared classes, but not seeing Leona gliding through the air as Coach Vargas’ star athlete was a jarring sight. On the first day, he fully expected to not see Leona anywhere, assuming he slept late and was taking a day for himself. On the second day, he found it an odd occurrence, but reasoned himself out of worry with the excuse of ‘he just has to catch up on assignments’. By the third day, the thread of logic that Leona had a fully sound reason for not being present was fraying, stretched even tighter by all the times he spotted Ruggie going through his day without him anywhere nearby. Ruggie had friends outside of Leona, but he was nowhere near the level of social butterfly that would warrant not interacting with his closest peer for three whole days.

Azul was finding it difficult to focus on subjects he usually combated with ease. When he would discuss the workings of the Astro Lounge with Jade or relayed instructions to Floyd on how to deal with his newest “contractees” who weren’t living up to their end of the bargain, he felt like one half of his brain was darting around, thinking of Leona and his potion. He took a risky move by not testing it out on any subjects before giving it to Leona, but it was one he felt forced to do given that Leona was the only one he knew with his afflictions. For a moment, he wondered if he accidentally brewed a curse potion rather than an aiding one and Leona would go on to become like that princess he heard of in history class, the woman who slept for 100 years. He also heavily considered that Leona simply didn’t fulfill his role in the deal and was using his newfound relief to indulge in other activities outside of school. If that were the case, he would have to handle the matter himself; he had a feeling that if Floyd and Leona were to come to blows, someone was going to be irreversibly injured.

That afternoon, they both were scheduled for the prefects’ meeting with Headmaster Crowley. If he was going to have definite assurance that he was in trouble, it would be then. Leona may slack off in life, but he’s never skipped a prefect meeting in all the years they’ve known each other. This thought ran through his head as Azul searched his room for another school tie - the other was accidentally ink stained in class. As he searched his wardrobe, Jade politely knocked on his door before entering his prefect’s dorm room.

“Azul, your laundry’s done. What should I do with it?”

He didn’t respond for a moment. Jade cleared his throat to catch his attention. Finally realizing someone was in the room with him, Azul stood up and straightened his blazer. “Pardon?”

Jade held up a small hamper full of neatly folded clothing. 

“Oh, right. Uh, just put it on my bed. I have to meet with Crowley in 10 minutes.” He looked around the open wardrobe again, eyes flitting around without any sense of focus. “Does my other tie happen to be in there?”

Jade looked inside the bag and pulled out an identical striped tie. Before he could even respond, Azul snatched the tie out of his hands and loosened the one around his neck, tossing it on his bed behind him. “Thanks, I got to go. See you later, Jade.” 

With that, he left Jade standing in the doorway in stunned silence. Floyd walked up behind his brother and looked at the speed-walking Azul fleeing down the hallway. “What’s up with him?”

Jade took a pause to watch him round a corner, then set the small hamper on his bed. “I have no idea.” 

When Azul stepped through the portal door from Octavinelle to the Mirror Chamber, he noticed a few things immediately. One thing was that he entered the chamber at the same time as Vil. Another was that there was only one other person in the room with the two of them, sitting at the meeting table. The final thing was the fact that Leona was the other person. 

He was tying off one of his small braids he had just finished with a small hairband. He was dressed in his school uniform (to Azul’s dismay, including the sandals) and sitting comfortably in one of the seats. Azul and Vil glanced at each other without any prompting since they both noticed how strange his presence was. It was common for the other two leaders to be the first ones at the meeting, but it was even more common for Leona to be one of the last. What Vil couldn’t see in Azul’s expression was the satisfying feeling of relief washing over him, knowing that Leona wasn’t in danger. 

Azul approached from behind and pulled out one of the seats next to him, prompting Leona to look up and be greeted by his familiar face. Peculiarly, his mouth looked like he was fighting off the urge to smile, an action he only did to another person when Ruggie would use his unique magic on him and force his lips to stretch into a grin. 

Leona’s ear twitched towards the sound of Vil’s heels on the marble flooring. “Well, this is a first.”

“What is?” Leona replied.

“You, actually being early. You know, Rook and I take bets every day of the meeting to see if you’ll be the last or second last to show up.” He took a seat a few places away from Leona and Azul. “I guess no one will be winning this week.”

“Vil, shut up.” 

A few moments passed before the remaining leaders - Idia’s enchanted tablet in his place - entered the chamber for their meeting. While Riddle and Idia were also surprised to see Leona on the ball for the meeting, Kalim was just happy to see him as he always is. With a wide grin, Kalim sat next to Leona and rested his cheeks in his palms. 

“It’s so good to see you, Leona! I haven’t seen you in a while. Your hair looks different. Did you brush it?” 

His fingertips hardly brushed Leona’s brunette locks before a leather-gloved hand snatched Kalim’s wrist. Leona was amping up to give Kalim a threat to never touch his hair until he felt a hand rest on his knee under the table. It was barely noticeable to anyone who wasn’t looking, but Leona felt whose hand it was and knew why he was touching him. With a sigh, he let go of Kalim’s wrist. 

“Sorry,” Kalim said, lightly rubbing his wrist. “I just… it looks nice today.”

The hand stayed on Leona’s knee. Leona knew what he had to do, but every ounce of himself protested. Still, every ounce of him also wanted to sleep as well as he had for the past 3 days. 

His voice was low, but Kalim could make it out. “It’s okay. Just ask my permission before you touch my hair, okay?” He took a pause. “And I did brush it.”

Kalim’s face, though twinged with confusion at Leona’s etiquette, was gleeful. 

Eventually, the front door of the chamber opened and in stepped Dire Crowley, cane in hand and strut as confident as ever. “Apologies for the wait, everyone. School matters. Shall we get started?”

The prefects looked around the table and nodded to their Headmaster. As per usual, it would take them until halfway into the meeting to realize Malleus wasn’t there.

~~~

Leona’s astonishing irregularity continued throughout the meeting. His sarcastic remarks were sparser than usual - though not absent, to Crowley’s misfortune - and he wasn't as antsy to leave. That effect was to be expected, though, since he didn’t have the urge to go to his bed and find some relief as he did before. Azul kept stealing glances at Leona, Leona did the same to Azul, and in the moments they would accidentally do so in sync, they quickly acted as if neither was doing such a thing.

With all matters settled and plans for the next few weeks orchestrated, Crowley dismissed them to go about their student lives again. He was the first out the door, his reason being as suspiciously vague as his tardiness. Idia’s tablet, Riddle, Kalim, and Leona left after him, but Azul met some resistance in his departure. 

“Hey,” Vil called from behind him. “What’s going on with Leona?”

Azul felt the skin on his hands go icy, despite being wrapped in warm, white gloves. “Pardon?”

“Leona’s acting weird. He’s actually… behaving. Not as well as the rest of us, mind you, but more than last meeting.”

“And you think I have a hand to play in that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Leona becomes so unruly he gets put in detention, then he vanishes for days, and now all of a sudden he’s not an absolute idiot? That kind of pattern sounds a lot like one of those deals you cook up.” Vil gracefully folded his arms, subtly showing off his freshly done manicure. “Plus, you sat next to him by choice today. You only sit next to him when there are no other seats available.”

Azul cursed himself for making such a mistake in a moment of happiness. His mind was racing at top speed trying to explain his involvement without revealing too much. Finally, it landed on a way to phrase his thoughts.

“Fine, I admit. He and I have come to a sort of agreement. His end of the trade is that he starts being a more competent prefect. I’ve gotten sick of Leona’s antics and decided a change must be done. After witnessing his tantrum in Professor Trein’s class, I took matters into my own hands. If all goes well, he should improve.”

“And how is it you got someone like Kingscholar to agree to a deal? What was your end of the bargain?”

“Contractor confidentiality, Shoenheit.” He finished the sentence off with a smug smile.

Vil rested his hands on his hips. “I hope you have that beast under control, Azul. Heaven knows I couldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. You have to be wary around people like him.”

With that, Vil departed, leaving Azul as the last one in the chamber. 

People like him, Azul thought. Vil didn’t know the first thing about a person like him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, y'all. I had a lot of fun writing this (even when I was planning on dropping it) so I hope you all enjoy the conclusion. 
> 
> Oh, and a special thank you to CTtrajan, your hype is very much appreciated ^◡^

According to the accounts of many Savanaclaw students, Leona’s strange three-day disappearance was mostly spent unconscious in his room. After he took Azul’s potions, he didn’t wake up at all on the first day. The second day was spotty narcoleptic episodes that lasted no more than 15 minutes each, and by the third day he took one more nap to get rid of the last residual effects of his condition. It was a shock to everyone in the dorm when he seemed as spry as a spring chicken on the fourth day. He was out doing laps on the track before Ruggie could even get to his door and he spent time thoroughly washing and brushing his hair before the prefect’s meeting. No one could tell why, but everyone had their theories, most of which included the strange frequency of unmarked packages showing up at Leona’s dorm.

Their agreement continued day after day, week after week, and soon month after month. As difficult as it was during the first couple weeks, Leona was forced to keep his side of the bargain since Azul had kept his. He found himself impressed a few times with how easily Azul seemed to recreate his potion with little margins of error. Meanwhile, Azul found himself impressed with how Leona seemed to be improving. He’d heard more than once how he was actually a very capable person but never applied himself, but he hadn’t believed it until he’d seen it. When Azul looked at him from the upper row of the lecture hall, he noticed that he was actually taking notes – pretty good ones at that. He clocked how Leona’s ears were starting to perk up during his conversations with Ruggie and Jack at lunch, a time when he was usually quiet and brooding. Azul even witnessed him carry a conversation with Malleus about sports for a considerable amount of time to his genuine surprise. 

A side effect neither party was expecting was how much more comfortable they’d gotten around each other, even in class. They would sit closer to each other during prefect meetings by choice, they would let themselves smile in each other’s presence without worry. After a while, it was impossible for others not to notice, and notice they did. It was hard to say Leona and Azul were friends, they still didn’t talk much and never seemed to hang out, but they weren’t enemies either. They were something new.

Before anyone knew it, the temperature was rising, the flowers were flourishing, and the birds were singing their calls every morning while the students went to their classes. July was here, which meant the first semester was coming to a close and they would soon be separated for the summer. Azul would go back to his Coral Sea home and Leona back to his family in Afterglow Savannah, where he would have to listen to his parents fawn over his brother for the third year in a row. However, both knew what the real struggle would be: if they were apart for over a month, how would their agreement keep up? Azul’s potions lasted four nights each, but they would be separated for forty. Leona seemed to keep a bit of tension in his shoulders as the break approached. For the first time in years, he went through his days relatively calm and happy. He wasn’t jumping for joy in any sense of the word, but he felt comfortable in his existence. Though he never said it to Azul aloud, he could tell how scared Leona was to lose that again. 

The Octavinelle trio were sitting in the library. Jade was discussing his ideas for how the lounge could improve next semester while Floyd was listening with his shoes on the table, despite the amount of times a staff member told him to stop putting them up. Meanwhile Azul, usually a diligent boy, was idly doodling seashells in his notepad as the gears in his head slowly cranked, trying to figure out how to keep Leona’s contribution going. He was doing so well, he wouldn’t allow him to go backwards. 

“What’re you thinking about, sir?” Floyd said as he tossed a crumpled piece of paper at Azul’s forehead.

Azul’s mouth quirked sideways. “… One of my deals is going to be affected by summer vacation. I’m supposed to observe him to make sure he’s being fair, but we’ll be apart for over a month.”

“Aw, you were having deal meetings without me?” Floyd frowned. “I can’t believe you’re keeping potential squeezes from me.” Jade tapped his brother on the side of the head with a pencil playfully and he crumpled up another piece of paper to throw at Jade. 

“Well, is the other person trustworthy enough to stay fair for a long period of time?” Jade asked.

“That’s the thing. Before, he absolutely wasn’t. But it’s been months since we first made the deal and now… well now, he’s different.”

“If you want to come to a conclusion, see him as soon as possible,” Jade suggested. “Vacation is less than a week away.”

“I know, I know.” Azul huffed a sigh through his nose. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Who’s this guy, anyway?” Floyd asked. “You still haven’t told us.”

“I told you, he promised I keep him anonymous. You know how that goes.”

Floyd rolled his eyes. “Some of these kids are no fun.”

Azul finished his drawing of a conch shell as he wondered if Leona was self-sufficient enough to be trusted. He decided Jade was right. There was only one way to know for sure.

~~~

Leona was intrigued to say the least when Azul invited him to the botanical garden the next day. He had just finished his alchemy test – one of the only tests he’s ever studied for – when he strode through the glass doors. He was greeted by the sight of Azul slowly walking down the cobblestone and admiring a bush of Black Eyed Susans. He was dressed in his school and held a small, off-white canvas tote bag by its straps. 

Leona cleared his throat to make himself known and Azul lifted his head. They smiled to one another. Azul’s eyes trailed down. “All these weeks and you’re still wearing slacks and sandals.”

“It’s hot as hell out here. Besides, my fashion wasn’t a part of the deal.”

Azul let out a small gust of a laughter. “I know, I was just hoping it would be a pleasant side effect. It is hot, isn’t it?”

“Why not take off the jacket?”

“Leona, this is my uniform, I have to wear it at school.”

“I’ve been at this academy since I was 16. Have you ever seen me wear a jacket?” Azul’s mouth remained shut. “Come on, loosen up for once. It’s just us.”

Azul sighed sharply and unbuttoned his blazer, then sluffed it off his torso and folded it neatly over his free arm. Underneath he sported his plain white shirt, grey double-breasted vest that matched Leona’s in everything but colour, and his striped tie.

“Happy now?”

Instead of answering, Leona pointed to the tote bag. “So, what’s that?”

“This is the next part of our deal.”

“What next part?”

“As you’re definitely aware of, vacation is a few days away and we won’t be able to see each other frequently anymore. So, this is to tide you over during the summer.” He extended his arm and offered Leona the bag. 

At that point, Leona was very used to getting potions from Azul and learned to trust him on that front, but every time it was just unmarked packages sent to his room. To give him a bag of something in-person was unlike him by then. 

“More potions I’m guessing?”

“Ten more.”

Leona’s ears stood at full attention. “Ten potions? You serious?”

“Absolutely.”

“Why?”

Azul lowered his arm. “Well, I thought it would be a hassle to redo the recipe to make the spell last forty days instead of four, so I’d just make ten of four.”

“And you’re just… gonna give it to me?”

Azul shrugged.

“… Why?”

“So that you can keep up your good habits without being bogged down by your illness. It’s worked like a charm so far, I’m sure you’ve noticed it yourself.”

Leona looked him up and down, a move Azul had come to know too well. It’s the look he gives someone to tell them he’s suspicious and trying to find any part of them that indicates they’re lying. He didn’t even have to say anything to Azul for him to get the message.

“I know it looks strange from your point of view, but it’s the same potion I’ve been giving you this entire time, you can see for yourself. I called this meeting to make sure you can be trusted enough to still keep your act straight even if I’m controlling the potion supply. Nothing core is changing about either of our sides of the agreement, it’s just a differently formatted situation.” 

It was a long beat before either spoke after that.

“You know, Azul, I’ve been getting a lot of questions these past few months. It’s usually about why my grades are going up or why I’m not yelling at people as much. But one time, Vil told me you told him that our deal was just because you want me to stop dragging down the rest of you. That I can understand. To be honest, I was thinking that was your angle, too. But if that’s true, then this little gesture doesn’t make any sense.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Leona took a few steps closer. “We don’t see each other during the summer, I have no effect on you or anybody else at this school. You could just let it be and leave me to deal with my fatigue again, no skin off your bones, but you’re not. I’ll be honest, I believe those are actual remedy potions in there. But that would mean this goes deeper than just practical. Maybe you care about me.” Leona closed more of the distance between them so they were less than half a metre away. “Is that it?” A moment, then, “You still haven’t told me why you’ve really been doing this for me, especially for months.”

Azul looked to the side, then back to him. He should’ve seen it coming sooner, that Leona would begin to look beneath his business-like exterior. His thoughts swam as he thought how to approach the question posed to him. After all, what he and Leona were was difficult to classify as friends, but they weren’t enemies. They really were something new. He realized this must’ve been what Leona was feeling all of those months ago when they stood where they stand today, having to confess a shameful secret of his. He thought this may be the real trade off the whole time: a secret for a secret. If he really wanted to check if Leona was invested enough to keep up the verbal contract, Azul would have to give him what he always wanted: the whole truth, no twisting of words or ‘I have my reasons’. The wise words of the Sea Witch played in his head.

‘You can’t get something for nothing, you know.’

It took him a moment to speak, and when he did it was hard to believe he actually said it. “I don’t want you to live how I do.”

Leona’s expression twisted from somewhat smug to confused. “… What?”

Azul breathed in slowly. “Listen, I don’t have chronic fatigue. My health is fine. But my mind, well, that’s another story, isn’t it? When we first spoke, I confess part of me was still looking to strike a deal in a strictly business way. But when you said what you said, that you couldn’t tell anyone, how you had to let people judge and mock you because it’s better than letting them know you have any kind of weakness,” Azul glanced upward and locked eyes with Leona, silvery-blue to green once again. “I was looking in a mirror. I finally had someone else who knew what it was like. Whether or not we have the same end goal didn’t matter. Of course you yell at people all the time, I have that urge every single day. Just to let myself go for once and scream at someone, anyone! But I can't, I have a racket to run. I have responsibilities, just like you. I made your end of the bargain to force you to be better because I couldn’t bear to see you get swallowed up by your struggle like I almost did so many times. If I can’t help myself, then helping someone like me is my next best bet.” He held up the bag once more time and sniffed, very clearly trying to keep his composure. “So that’s why. Vacation is not the time for pain, Leona.”

Leona’s face had fallen and he stared at Azul with his mouth slightly agape. It was almost unsettling to see Azul take off his mask, even if for a few moments. He said nothing, he simply walked to Azul and took the bag. He gave him a few nods, as if to say thank you. Whether it was for the potions or for opening up, Azul wasn’t sure. He decided it was likely both. 

“I’ll keep you posted. You know, about how I’m doing. Don’t wanna lose any of my progress, right?”

Azul smiled in relief, teeth showing that time. “Right.” He held out his hand for a handshake. Leona took it firmly and they shook. They were definitely not on hugging terms, but Azul still felt like the way their hands grasped one another’s was just like one.

“You know, Jack told me Scarabia’s hosting a buffet in the cafeteria in an hour as an end-of-semester thing. Apparently, they have good food. You wanna get some?”

“Sure, I’d like that.”

They walked to the double doors of the greenhouse. Leona looked at Azul’s arm and noticed something. “Azul. Your jacket.”

He looked down and saw his jacket was still folded on his arm instead of putting it back on. Azul readjusted his glasses and cracked a smirk. “I think I’ll go jacketless today. It’s hot.”

Leona nodded knowingly. “Yeah. It really is.”

The doors shut behind them. For the first time, but certainly not the last, Leona and Azul walked together in stride, side by side, away from the botanical garden.


End file.
